Photo of Georgia Republican Sheriff Shows him Dressed as KKK

From [HERE] and [HERE] A Georgia sheriff running for re-election is in some hot water after a photo of him wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit surfaced on Friday. Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison admits he wore the outfit. He claims that he wore it to costume to a party while in his early 20s, long before he took office. Garrison said: "I don't deny it wasn't stupid, looking back now." The sheriff of the county north of Atlanta is up for re-election this year and faces opposition in Georgia's July 31 primary. He says the photos are being circulated for "purely political" purposes (like to reveal his true nature as a white supremacist? Must have been a helluva "party." Can you imagine the reaction if a Black elected official dressed up like Hitler back in the day? white folks would have a heart attack - bw). WSB-TV said they were able to contact one individual who was at that Halloween party and recalled people being surprised by the costumes. He is a Republican candidate. [MORE]  

Garrison has been an aggressive proponent of arresting undocumented Latinos. Recently he said, “we will continue to focus our efforts on identifying illegal aliens involved in organized crime including drug sales, prostitution and gang affiliations which threaten our community." After plans to identify illegal aliens, Garrison said he wanted to participate in a federal program that will reimburse the county for the money they spend toboard illegal immigrants. [MORE] 

The photo, along with a second showing him with the hood removed, were presented to the television station through a source that wished to remain anonymous. The photos show Mr Garrison standing on the left of another white-cloaked man while holding what appears to be a black balloon in one hand and a beverage in the other.

He says the costumes were inspired by a scene in the movie Blazing Saddles and have no connection to him and the organization identified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

With Mr Garrison's coming election next month, his opponent, David Waters, says he knew about the photos and was in fact shown them about a year ago, but he wasn't the one who presented them this week. That's a claim WSB-TV confirms.

'It's purely political,' Mr Garrison responded to the photos on Friday.  'This is just the lowest of the low to infer whatever they're attempting to infer there,' he said while adding, 'everybody knows everything about my life.

'I would just ask that they look at my honour and my integrity and the things we've done for this sheriff's office.'